Multi-Grain Banana Bread

Here's a healthy option to those home made gifts some of us do each year for our friends and family.

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Milled Flax Seed
3 Eggs
1 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/3 cup Mashed Bananas
2/3 tsp. Salt
1/3 cup Grated Apple
½ tsp. Pumpkin Spice
1/3 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp. Vanilla, Pure Extract
1/2 cup Butter, softened

Preheat oven at 350'F. Cream sugar and butter. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into well-greased loaf pans. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

Note: If you have no Buttermilk available, can substitute amount with half Sour Cream, half Milk.

Creamy Pepperjack Chicken

Thank you to Jessica for this recipe! All I did different was shred the cheese, instead of cutting into squares. I like this recipe because it's a little spicy from the chiles and cheese, but also tangy from the sour cream. I've had it over Egg Noodles and another time over Penne Pasta, but of the two, I thought the Egg Noodles were better suited for this recipe. Next time I make this recipe, I'm going to saute' some Onions and put them into the sauce.

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 can Cream of Mushroom, 98% Fat Free
1 can Cream of Celery, 98% Fat Free
16 oz. Sour Cream, Light or Fat Free
8 oz. Pepper jack Cheese, Shredded or Cut into Small Pieces
1 can Green Chiles

Preheat oven to 375'F. Cut each Chicken Breasts into 4 pieces. In a 13 x 9 Casserole dish, place Chicken pieces evenly. Mix together Soups, Sour Cream, and Green Chiles, then pour sauce mix over the Chicken. Over each piece of Chicken, sprinkle a pile of the Pepper jack Cheese. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and Chicken is cooked through. Serve over cooked Pasta or Rice.

Spicy Party Crackers

This is an excellent, quick Party/Camping/Swimming appetizer! The original recipe I have is from my Aunt Pat, but after trying it with 1 packet of the dressing mix, I decided it needed a second one for more saltiness. I suggest trying it with 2, then if it is too salty for your taste, next batch try 1 1/2 packets.

1 box of Saltine Crackers (4 packages)
1 1/3 cup Canola Oil (better flavor than other oils)
2 Packets of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
6 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Place Crackers in a container with a tight lid, all standing up. Stir together Canola Oil, Ranch Dressing Mix, and Red Pepper Flakes. Pour over all the crackers and leave for 15 minutes. Give a gentle shake and turn over container and let stand for another 15 minutes. Repeat this two more times, for a total of one hour. Then they're ready to enjoy!

Parmesan Ragu Cubed Steak

So, I've been working on this recipe for about a year now. Different flavors, but I finally believe I've got a winner. Cubed Steak is a great way to get your 'red meat' in, while not spending too much on 'steak'. While it is a cheaper cut, it can be a tougher meat, especially when baking with it. Which has lead me to add the ingredient of sausage to this one. It provides the extra juices and flavors that make this a mouth-watering meat dish.


4 Cubed Steaks
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce (whichever is your favorite flavor)
1 lb. Breakfast Sausage, in a tube
1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 375'F. In a large casserole dish, place the Cubed Steaks evenly. Pull Sausage apart in small chunks and evenly distribute over each steak. Pour the Spaghetti Sauce over the dish. Sprinkle large amounts of the Parmesan Cheese over each steak. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Serve as a side, rice or pasta, spooning the baked sauce on top.

Sweet & Tangy BBQ Baked Chicken

These are the type of recipes that just keep me trying to make new dishes!

I have normally made my baked BBQ chicken, with just a jar of a great BBQ sauce, baked it, and that was it. This is good, but tried something different one time and it turned out great! Here it is:


3-4 lbs. Bone-in Chicken (for white meat, lower cook time)
16-20 oz. BBQ sauce
3/4 cup Brown Sugar, unpacked
1/2 cup Lemon Juice, from concentrate

Preheat oven to 375'F. In a large casserole dish, place evenly the pieces of chicken. Pour the BBQ sauce all over the chicken. Sprinkle even amounts of Brown Sugar over each piece of chicken. Pour the Lemon Juice evenly over the dish. Bake for 40-55 minutes, depending on how your oven cooks. Serve with your favorite sides for a BBQ night.

Blackened Tilapia

Brody and Kosmo are still talking about how good this fish recipe is....Kosmo went crazy for the smell of it and Brody got a taste of it in Mommy's milk later that night!

Frozen Tilapia filets (however many you want to cook and that can lay flat in your pan)
1 Tbls. Butter per/Filet
Cavender's Seasoning
Onion Powder
Paprika
Salt

In a large frying pan, melt the Butter over a medium-high heat and tilt pan around until the bottom is coated. With heat still on, sprinkle a layer of each seasoning directly on top of the Butter. Tilt pan around again, essentially stirring the seasonings and Butter (really no need for a stirring spoon). Lay the frozen Tilapia filets down in the pan. Cover the pan and let cook for 3-5 minutes. DO NOT FLIP unless you are good at flipping fish that is starting to break apart. This will 'blacken' the fish on one side and cook the fish though. The Paprika is what will give it the 'blackened' coating. Add more cooking time if the fish is not opaque and not starting to pull apart.

Cream Cheese Sopapillas

Brody's Baby Einstein stuff is always teaching some word in Spanish, so here's a recipe for our fellow Baby Einstein users!

2 8 oz. Pkg. Cream Cheese
2 8 oz. Pkg. Crescent roll dough
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tbls. Cinnamon
1 ½ cups Sugar, divided
1/4 cup Butter, melted

Preheat oven at 350'F. Mix Cream Cheese, 1 cup Sugar, and Vanilla until light and fluffy. Spray casserole-sized dish with non-stick spray. Place 1 package Crescent roll dough on the bottom of the dish, do not separate pieces, instead press perforated edges together. Pour Cream Cheese mix over dough. It will be a little harder this time, but place down the 2nd package Crescent roll dough in the same way, over the Cream Cheese mix. It might be helpful to do the pressing of the dough separately before laying it down. Drizzle Butter on top of the dough. Mix the last ½ cup of Sugar with the Cinnamon, then sprinkle over the buttered dough. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until dough is completely cooked. Best when served warm.

Brody's Spicy Simmered Chicken & Sausage

See, Brody is giving this recipe a THUMBS-UP!

3-5 lbs. Bone-in Chicken
1 Smoked Sausage link
2 cups Tomato Juice
1 can Rotel
½ Chopped Celery
2 Tbls. Garlic Powder
2 Tbls. Onion Powder
½ Tsp. Basil
1 Tsp. Rubbed Sage
1/4 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper
2 Bay Leaves
Salt
Cooked Rice

Preheat oven to 375'F. Boil Chicken till fully cooked, then remove from boil broth, setting out to cool. Reserve boil chicken broth. Cut up Sausage into bite-size pieces, then place in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When Sausage is heated through, add all other ingredients except Salt. While that is heating, de-bone Chicken into very large pieces, as much as possible. Add Chicken to the Sausage sauce. Ladle 2 large spoons of the boil chicken broth to the Sausage and Chicken sauce, stirring together very lightly, so as not to break up the Chicken into smaller pieces. Bring back to a simmer. Ladle 1 large spoon of the boil chicken broth into a bowl and whisk corn starch into it. Pour slowly into the sauce, lightly stirring it. Cover the Dutch oven with its lid, then place in the oven for 30 minutes. The flavor should be robust, hearty, and rich in order to serve over Rice. Add salt as necessary. If the sauce is too tomato-y or too salty/spicy, then Ladle more of the spicy chicken broth into it.

Throw It Together -- Quick Meal

My Chicken Pot Pie

1 Box Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust (In the Biscuit section)
1 1/2 lbs. Chicken Breast
1 can Rotel
1 can Cream of Chicken, 98% Fat Free
1 can Cream of Celery, 98% Fat Free
1 can Cream of Mushroom, 98% Fat Free
1 Tbls. Onion Powder
2 pinches White Ground Pepper
1 bag Frozen Mixed Vegetables
2 cans Sliced Mushrooms

13 x 9 Casserole Dish

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Cut Chicken into small pieces.
Follow instructions on box for bringing both pie crusts to room temperature.
Mix all ingredients, except crust, together in Large bowl.
Pour pie filling into the dish; spread evenly.
Cut both crusts into long strips and place on top of filling, creating a Criss-Cross design.
Any crust coming over the sides of the dish, can just be cut off with a butter knife against the edge of the dish.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Then turn your oven to broil and let the crust brown nicely, should take 5 minutes.